


Burden of the Beast

by misshapenmuse



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 09:12:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9432140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misshapenmuse/pseuds/misshapenmuse
Summary: Orphaned twice by dead parents he doesn’t remember and guardians who he was just beginning to make bonds with, Connor is sent to live with another magical family in the Order. Ten years later when the nightmares about a fire continue to get worse, he receives his letter for Hogwarts. But the nightmares aren’t the only thing that burdens this young man - he feels something inside him trying to crawl its way out.





	1. Prologue: Things We Lost In The Fire

**Prologue: Things We Lost In The Fire**

* * *

Ophelia Black brought her steaming cup of tea up to her lips and took a small, unsure sip of it. Satisfied with it’s temperature, she took a much larger sip of the tea the next time. A warm fire roared in front of her. Despite it being a late August night, there seemed to be a chill in the air that made Ophelia shiver.

Sirius was supposed to be joining her for supper. She hadn’t seen her brother in weeks and it often worried her as to why he was gone so much. She loved her brother more than anything. He was the only family she had left that hadn’t disowned her years ago but she couldn’t change that nor would she. The tiny beautiful creature in front of her wouldn’t be here if she had done what her parents wanted of her. To marry Rabastan Lestrange and be a perfect pure-blood wife. Rabastan had always been too obsessed with her and she would never be like Bella or Cissa. Andy and her had always had the more adventurous souls. 

A soft squeal made Ophelia turn her attention from the fire to owner of the squeal. A little boy with hair the color of wheat looked up at her with dancing blue eyes. The magical toy hippogriff Sirius had brought the small boy on his last visit, flew around him. Chubby hands grabbed at the flying contraption as the boy squealed in delight. 

Her seventeen month old son, Connor, was a surprise to her at first. To this day she could never wrap her head around his conception but all that mattered now was that he was here. Ophelia felt the all too familiar pain in her heart, causing her to bring her free hand up to her chest. Her thoughts had quickly changed from her son to his father. She had simply wished that he could be here, to see his son growing up and starting to look more and more like him everyday. But he had made the choice not to be in their lives. It almost killed her for him to walk away like he did, but she had to go on for Connor. 

A soft knock came at the door and Ophelia jumped up from the couch happily. Sirius was finally here. As she made her way towards the door, Connor stopped giggling and the flying hippogriff fell to the floor with a soft clank. She swore she saw the beginning of tears forming in his eyes. Thinking it was only because she was suddenly away from him, Ophelia quickly opened the door. 

What surprised Ophelia that the man in front of her wasn’t her brother but Rabastan Lestrange. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” Ophelia cried in surprise as her old Slytherin classmate and once betrothed stood before her. 

His piercing blue eyes stared back at her the same way as they always had, in possession and lust. In her sixth year before she grew some sense in her head, she had dated him. Who wouldn’t be pulled in by his shaggy dark hair and his piercing blue eyes. However, when he attacked a Gryffindor boy a year ahead of her, she stopped him. After that she saw him, his brother and Bellatrix for what they really were - cruel and not her kind. 

“Lia, don’t be that way,” Rabastan said in tone that might have worked on her when she was younger but she knew him too well. 

“Is that damn dog is still around?” Rabastan asked harshly as he grabbed a hold of Ophelia’s waist. She cried out in pain as Connor’s own cries begin to fill the room. Ophelia had forgotten her wand on the end table in a rush to get the door. “Here, doggy doggy,” Rabastan screamed then woofed. 

“He’s not here,” Ophelia cried as she struggled against Rabastan. 

Connor’s cries intensified causing Rabastan to turn his wand from her to the small boy sitting in front of the couch. Tears streamed down his chubby face and his grubby hands reached out for his mother. 

“Tell that abomination to shut the hell up,” Rabastan yelled at Ophelia. She wanted to comfort her son but Rabastan had a pretty good grip around her waist. 

“Connor, keep quiet for mommy,” Ophelia cooed at her son, who watched her with red eyes and trembling lips. “Everything will be fine, sweetheart,” she added as Rabastan kept his grip on her and moved them into the house. 

Ophelia struggled to get loose. Since he walked into her small cottage, her wand was a lot closer than it had been before. Connor’s cries had quieted down but he still sniffled and reached out for her. Rabastan forcefully turned her to look at him. The look she saw in eyes caused her body to shiver. He was going to do something and she only hoped Sirius would soon arrive. 

“How could you choose that filthy half-blood mutt over me?” Rabastan screamed, his eyes glaring with the fire that danced behind him and made the darkening cottage glow with an eerie orange glow. 

“Because I love him,” Ophelia sneered, bringing her face close to Rabastan. “And after everything he’s done to me, it could never amount to the awful things you’ve done,” she added, before spitting in his face. 

With a thud, Ophelia landed on the floor a few feet from Connor. As she crawled towards her son, Rabastan raised his wand at her once more. 

“Stupefy,” Rabastan casted with a flick of wand. A blue light hit Ophelia square in the back as her fingers grazed Connor’s chubby pajama clad leg.

Connor’s cries began again as he grabbed for his mother’s hand. He knew something was wrong with her but his young brain could not understand. Rabastan moved to stand beside the fire. He twirled his wand between his fingers and stared at the fire as if thinking about what to do. 

“You should have never been born,” Rabastan screamed at Connor. More tears spilled from his eyes as the man screamed at him. “Once Lord Voldemort kills the Potter twins, we will make sure nothing like you can happen again,” he added while he kneeled beside an unconsciousness Ophelia. 

Rabastan moved his wand near Ophelia’s head then began moving his hand in the shape of a brain. “ Obliviate,” he charmed. He was never really good at charms. He had always been better with hexes but he didn’t want to kill Ophelia. He would finally make her his. He left her memories of her family, her cousins and him. Gone were the memories of her son and his father. 

When he felt the job was done, he picked up Ophelia and threw her over his shoulder. With one more sneer at Connor, he turned towards the fireplace.

“ Engorgio .” 

The fire exploded from the fireplace to the floor. Connor cries echoed through the house and the clearing outside the house as the house started to erupt in flames. He watched the man disappear with a loud pop. Connor clenched tightly to the hippogriff as smoke started to fill the room quickly. Small wheezing noises started to come from him. 

Soon the entire house was engulfed in flames and Connor laid down against the floor as the smoke started to affect his breathing. 

As the world started to go dark around her, he heard someone someone yelling. His little eyes opened to see a young man with scars across his face but the man’s blue eyes were gentle and kind. Connor continued to clenched to the hippogriff as the man with light brown hair picked him up. 

Connor’s free hand grabbed on tightly to the man’s tweed jacket as the man frantically searched for something. Tears begin to fill the man’s eyes too as he took one last good look around the collapsing cottage. 

“I’m taking you to safety, buddy,” Remus coughed as he held his son close to him. 

With the same pop the scary man had disappeared in, Remus and Connor did the same just as the second floor collapsed into the living room. Remus was taking him to the only place that he knew he would be taken care of - the Potter’s. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcomed. This is the the second story in my Blood and Roses series. The series centers around Remus Lupin and Ophelia Black, and their offspring.


	2. Year 1: Nightmares and Letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orphaned twice by dead parents he doesn’t remember and guardians who he was just beginning to make bonds with, Connor is sent to live with another magical family in the Order. Ten years later when the nightmares about a fire continue to get worse, he receives his letter for Hogwarts. But the nightmares aren’t the only thing that burdens this young man - he feels something inside him trying to crawl its way out.

**Year 1: Nightmares and Letters**

* * *

 

The flames danced at eleven year old Connor Black’s skin as he clinged to his toy hippogriff. He could barely breath but the kind and fatherly embrace of the young man holding him chased away the bad shadow man near the fireplace. Something glimmery next to the shadow man caught his eye. Her blonde hair blew in the wind but didn’t seem to catch fire despite being so close to the roaring flames. Her scared eyes mirrored his own. Tears streamed down both of their faces as they reached out for each other. Suddenly the shadow man grabbed her and they disappeared as if they were never there.

Connor’s somber blue eyes shot open and he gasped for air as he felt two tiny hands on his hand. Sympathetic hazel eyes looked down at him. He took slow breaths to steady his breathing before he placed his own hand on the ginger girl’s hand. 

“Ginny, go back to bed before you wake Ron and the rest of the house,” he assured her by patting her hand softly. “I’m fine,” he lied because deep down he wasn’t. 

Connor had been with living with the Weasleys since he was nineteen months old. They were the only family willing to take in a toddler twice orphaned despite having six boys themselves and Molly had just given birth to their only daughter. For the last nine years Connor shared a room with Ron. 

“Connor,” came a hoarse voice from the other side of the room. Ron sat up slowly, looking around the room. His eyes fell on Ginny holding onto Connor’s hand. “Another nightmare?” Ron asked, ignoring how close Ginny and Connor had been getting lately. She seemed to be the only one to chase his nightmares away. 

“Did you wet the bed again?” George teased as Fred and him suddenly entered the younger boy's’ room but his smile turned into frown when he saw the look on Connor’s face. 

Ever since Connor had been having the nightmares, his mother had never appeared in them before. The young man holding him never changed but the shadow figures had. 

“George, what’s wrong with you?” Ginny scolded her older brother as she continued to sit close to Connor. 

George was about to apologize but Connor shook his head no. They all knew he had been having the nightmares for months now. Once he wet the bed during his dream and the twins never let him forget it. Molly would sometimes stay up with him when his nightmares were bad but lately they had been getting worse. The smoke was becoming thicker, the flames hotter and the shadow man’s outline was becoming less blurry. It wasn’t until tonight that his mother appeared in his nightmares. 

Connor looked over at Ginny, whose eyes watched him with concern and a look she often gave him when she thought he wasn’t looking. Connor realized she had a crush on him about six months ago. 

Connor would admit that he had a small crush on Ginny but he was also like his sister. The feelings were new for him and he often found himself going out to the garden to be by himself at night. He often found comfort watching the moon from the garden below Ginny’s window. The brilliant and white orb of night seemed to call him.

“You two should be receiving your letters to Hogwarts any day now,” Fred changed the subject to a much happier one. 

Connor looked over at Fred and laughed. Ron and him had been anxious for the last week, waiting for their letters to come. They both knew it would, seeing they both showed magical abilities from the time they were toddlers. When he showed Arthur the only thing he had left from his parents, the hippogriff he thought he had broken, the older man told him the contraption had no flying abilities. It was most likely him making it fly. When the hippogriff would no longer fly was when the nightmares started. The hippogriff was always clenched in his hand as the young man rescued him from the fire. 

“Ginny, it’s best you go back to bed now,” Ron ordered, looking at his sister with false authority. 

“Since when did you become dad?” Ginny countered with feistiness in her tone.  

Connor could tell Ginny didn’t like Ron ordering around and they often butted heads. His relationship with Ron had been awkward lately because of Ginny’s eagerness to be around him. Ron was like the brother he never had. Ginny looked at Connor once more as if to ask him to back her up. He could see Ron glaring at him. 

“Go Ginny, you don’t want Molly to catch you in here,” Connor ordered but his voice flattered when Ginny started to glare at him.

She quickly scampered from Connor’s bed and out before Ron would say another word to her. Connor’s eyes feel on Ron, who was watching intently. He knew he just being a big brother. Plus, Connor wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he ever hurt Ginny. It was just a harmless girl crush that he had no intentions on returning. 

Connor quickly laid back down against his bed, while looking up at the wood and sometimes leaky roof. For as long as he could remember, he’s lived with Weasleys, a pure-blood family in the Order. He always wondered what made Dumbledore pick a magical family instead of sending him to a muggle orphanage. All he knew of his parents was that his mother was Ophelia Black from the infamous Black family and his father was a half-blood wizard, who left his mother before he was born. He was eleven and as much as he loved the Weasleys, he wished his parents were with him. Another birthday had passed and he still wished for people he couldn’t even barely remember. 

Connor knew about the man who was supposedly his uncle, Sirius Black. He was a traitor and a murderer. He knew the story of how he ratted out the Potters to Voldemort then killed Peter Pettigrew. He wondered if he had done the same thing to Ophelia, his own sister. Would she still be alive if he had been there when the fire happened?

The stress of thinking about it all was giving him a headache. Hopefully in the morning, Ron and him would get their letters from Hogwarts then come September 1st, they would be off to their new school. Connor’s eyes began to flutter shut and in the distance, under the full moon, a wolf howled soothing Connor to sleep. 

* * *

The smell that woke Connor that morning was pancakes. Without even bothering to change from his pajamas, Connor jumped up from his bed. Ron was still peacefully asleep but Connor knew that wouldn’t last long. He slowly creep his way out of their room, trying his best not to hit any creaky floorboards. Connor was never the lucky one because as soon as he neared the doorway, the loudest creak resounded throughout the whole of their room.

Ron instantly sat up in the bed as if thousands of spiders had crawled across him. Connor felt Ron’s eyes fall on him instantly before he smelled what had woken up Connor. Connor took off down the hallway and to the stairs. He knew Ron wouldn’t be far behind. When he was halfway down the Burrow’s staircase, Ginny emerged from her bedroom on the third floor.

Connor watched as Ginny’s cheeks turned a healthy shade of pink, making the freckles across her nose disappear. He realized that she was embarrassed by her actions towards him last night.  

“Connor,” Ginny acknowledged him as she gave a small smile then disappeared down the stairs.

He could feel Ron standing behind him but he said nothing as he took off the stairs again. When Connor and Ron finally made it to the kitchen, he was engulfed into a hug. Molly, the only motherly figure he could remember having in his life, held him close. Ginny must of told her mother about his nightmares. He let the warmth fill him and cherished that he knew what it meant to be loved. There were others in the world that didn’t have that luxury.

“I made you your favorite, pancakes with dark chocolate chips and chocolate syrup,” Molly said after she let go of Connor.

His eyes drifted over to the table to see a special plate of food for him. He gave Molly a quick hug around the waist before darting towards the table. Ginny sat across from him eating regular pancakes. Maple syrup dripped down the side of her mouth as she gave him a small smile. Connor picked up his fork up and ripped a big piece of the pancakes off. A hug smile formed on his face before he stuffed the piece into his mouth. He didn’t know where he got the love of chocolate so much but it always made him feel better.

The other boys soon piled into the makeshift dining room. A lot of the chairs were mismatched but that’s what added to homely feel of the Burrow. Percy continued to ignore him much like he always did. Ron was sitting to his right and the twins were seated next to Ginny. They all ate their breakfast as the usually did, the boys fighting over the food and Ginny laughing at her brothers antics. Ron continued to stuff pieces of bacon into mouth but Connor was full from all the chocolate.

It wasn’t until breakfast was done, that the Weasley’s clumsy owl, Errol hit the window holding two envelopes sealed with a red seal within its talons. Molly took the envelopes from the owl before giving the owl a treat. It sat lazily on the open window seal as Molly handed both Ron and Connor their letters.

Connor turned the thick envelope over in his hand to see what was written on it.

_ Mr. C. Black _

_ 6th Floor of the Burrow _

_ Ottery St. Catchpole _

_ Devon _

Ron had already ripped the seal and pulled the letter out. A smile formed on Ron’s face that Connor had never seen so wide. He was nervous to open his but he suddenly felt the motherly touch of Molly’s hand on his shoulder. He tore the red seal then pulled the letter from envelope. A smile to match Ron’s formed on Connor’s lips. He had been accepted into Hogwarts. Since Bill got his acceptance letter, they had all waited for the day their letter arrived.

Connor often wondered what his parents felt when they got their acceptance letter. Were they as happy as him or were they scared? He knew all but nothing about his father expect that he was a half-blood. If the Weasley knew anything about him, they never told him. Sometimes he didn’t understand why his father was such a secret? If he was anything like the young man in his dreams, he would like to meet him.

After breakfast, the boys along with Ginny found themselves in the field beside the Burrow. For as long as Connor could remember, he knew how to fly a broom. They often played Quidditch in the yard. Ginny always begged to play but the twins suggested she sit it out. Lately something had been boiling under the surface and when the twins suggested she sit this one out again, it didn’t end well. 

“Is it because I am a girl?” Ginny screamed in frustration before she stalked back the Burrow.

Connor looked at twins and Ron before he took off after the fiery ginger girl. He found her on the bench he often sat at, at night. It was under her window and she was sure she saw him sitting by himself. When Connor finally made it to her, she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. They weren’t tears of sadness but frustration. 

“Shouldn’t you be playing with the  _ boys _ ?” Ginny seethed at Connor while putting an emphasis on the word boys.

“I am not like them, Ginny,” Connor replied as he sat down next to her on the bench. “I think you should be able to play with us,” he added, placing his hand on her shoulder then patting it lightly. 

Ginny stared at him for what seemed like minutes before she leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Connor’s lips. It took Connor a few seconds to realize what she had done. They had been each other’s first kiss and he wasn’t sure what he felt. Sure, these strange feelings gathered in Connor’s chest when Ginny smiled at him. However, he had been raised with Ginny literally since she was born. Part of him still felt as though she was like a sister to him but the new part of him thought of her as something else. To break the tension that suddenly gathered around them, Connor spoke. 

“I heard we are going to Diagon Alley tomorrow,” Connor spoke nervously. He wasn’t sure if he should kiss her back or run away. 

The color on Ginny’s cheeks told him she was embarrassed by what she had done. Connor started to open his mouth to say something but Ginny quickly climb of the bench and took off running into the house. Connor brought his fingers up to his lips and sighed. All these new feelings inside him, the dreams of his mother and the letter from Hogwarts was almost too much for the young boy to handle. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcomed. This is the the second story in my Blood and Roses series. The series centers around Remus Lupin and Ophelia Black, and their offspring.


	3. Year 1: Diagon Alley

**Year 1: Diagon Alley**

* * *

Connor tried avoiding Ginny for the rest of the day. He couldn’t look Ron in the eyes because even if these kind of feelings were new, and he no longer believed that girls were gross - he had liked it. After it happened he didn’t want to admit it to himself but as the day went on he slowly changed his mind. He tried to keep away from everyone the rest of the day, mostly reading in Ron and his room.

It was another trait he wished he knew which parent he had gotten it from. Since Molly had teached Ron and him to read, Connor would always be found with a book in his hand. It was mostly books about famous magical people but Arthur would often give him a book from the muggle world. 

That night when Ron entered the room, he pretended to be asleep. He didn’t want to have to answer questions about why he was suddenly avoiding everyone. However, he knew that morning he would have to give some kind of answer or Ron would never leave him alone. And he was right about that because as soon as breakfast was over and they were alone in their room getting ready to go Diagon Alley to get the supplies they needed for Hogwarts, Ron cornered him in corner of their room. 

“Why were you avoiding everyone yesterday?” Ron inquired as Connor pulled his sweater over his head. 

“I wasn’t feeling well,” Connor lied once he pulled the sweater down. “Too much chocolate,” he added while he grabbed a green slightly over-sized jacket that used to be Ron’s but he had grown out of it. 

Connor had always been taller than Ron but he was lanky with a long and thin torso. He had a feeling he had inherited that from his father. He had seen pictures of his mother; she had been a beautiful young blonde woman but she had been short with a skinny frame. She looked almost like a living doll. 

Connor thumbed the holes near the thumbs of his jacket. Even this morning he couldn’t look Ron in the eyes. He looked at the posters behind Ron but he could see on Ron’s face that he didn’t believe Connor. Ron was about to open his mouth to say something when Molly shouted from the bottom floor of the Burrow. 

“Boys, let’s get going,” Molly shouted, her voice booming through the Burrow. 

Connor knew she was using a spell to amplify her voice. He knew some simple spells but he didn’t have a wand. Plus until you were of age, the Ministry of Magic didn’t allow children to use magic outside of Hogwarts. The rule had been drilled into the Weasley household from the first time any of the children had wands. 

Connor fixed the toy hippogriff on his nightstand before he followed Ron out of their room. Once again, the night before he had the same nightmare as before. His mother reached out from him desperately again before the shadow man pulled her away and the young man picked up the floor. The young man always looked at him with a loving look but he always saw something else in the young man’s eyes. He didn’t know what it was but it was always there in the man’s blue eyes. 

All of the Weasley family including Ginny were standing by the large fireplace in the living room. Connor avoided Ginny’s eyes as he came to stand next to Ron. One by one, each member of the family took flow powder into their hands. Arthur was first, then followed by Percy, the twins then Ron. It was then Connor’s turn to take some flow powder into his hand then step into the large fireplace. 

Connor had never used the floo network before but he had watched the older boys do it before. He took a fistful of the glittery green floo powder from a medium bag that Molly held in her hand. Molly gave him a smile to reassure him that everything would be alright. He entered the large fireplace while looking at Molly nervously. 

“Diagon Alley,” Connor shouted as he mimicked what the others had done and threw down the floo powder at his feet. 

Green flames erupted around him and the next thing he knew he was in the fireplace of a shop that looked to sell uniforms, robes and other Wizardry clothes. As he stepped out of the fireplace, he looked around the shop in awe. Upon his mother’s death, Dumbledore had assured the Weasleys she had left him what little she had made since her family disowned her. Molly had given him the key the night before and he had made sure he had put it in his jacket pocket. 

Mr. Weasley greeted him while Molly and the others looked around. 

“I’m to take you to Gringotts,” Mr. Weasley said as he found Connor. 

Connor had always been close to Mr. Weasley. He often joined him in his workshop near the garden. He would sit with his toy hippogriff, and watch him tinker with both muggle and wizardry contraptions. He guessed Mr. Weasley was the father he never knew. He had been there when Connor lost his first tooth. He had been there Connor was scared of the objects flying around him, that he didn’t know he was causing. 

While Connor followed Mr. Weasley out of the shop, Connor swore he felt eyes watching him. His gaze shifted from left to right but he could never catch who was watching him. The outside of Gringotts was pure white limestone and marble. It gleamed in the late August sunlight. It shone like a beacon at the end of the alley. However, behind it’s beauty, the opposing crooked building scared him a bit. All he knew of the place was it was ran by goblins.

When Mr. Weasley and him finally entered the bank, Connor was once again in awe. Tiny but scary creatures with pointed ears stamped, sorted and counted at speeds Connor was sure no human could have achieved, even with a spell. They seemed to move at lightning speed and in unison. Connor didn’t know someone was in front of him until he smacked into the back of a man with shaggy black hair. 

The man suddenly turned around and glared down at Connor with such hate it almost gave him deja vu. The man’s cold blue eyes stared down at Connor, making Connor shift his gaze to the child with him. The black haired man held a boy about a year or two younger than Connor tightly by the shoulders. His fingers seemed to dig into the shoulder of the brown haired boy with glasses but the young boy showed no sign he was in pain. He seemed to be glaring at Connor as if Connor’s presence appalled him. 

“Watch where you are going before something happens,” threatened the black haired man as he reached for his wand. 

Fear began to take over Connor’s much like they did in nightmares. It was almost like he got the same feeling from the man that he got from the shadow man in his nightmares. He started to back away when he felt familiar gentle but calloused hands on his shoulders. 

“Rabastan Lestrange, I thought you would be in Azkaban by now,” Mr. Weasley replied as he pulled Connor close to his body to protect him. 

Rabastan glared at Mr. Weasley before pulling his son away and towards one of the goblins. Mr. Weasley turned Connor around to look at him as if to check if he had any damage. When he was satisfied, he looked down at Connor with worry in his eyes. 

“Don’t ever go near him again, Connor,” Mr. Weasley warned softly as he ruffled Connor’s light brown hair. “He is a very dangerous man,” he added before placing a soft kiss on Connor’s forehead. 

In all the years that Connor had lived with Weasleys, Mr. Weasley had never shown that kind of affection towards him. Molly kissed and hugged him goodnight like she did all of her kids but Mr. Weasley had never once did that to him. He had shown him he cared in other ways and he knew the Weasleys cared for him like he was one their own. So, whoever this Rabastan Lestrange was, it scared Arthur enough to comfort Connor like one of his own. 

“Stay close to me,” Mr. Weasley warned as he moved Connor and himself towards a goblin seated higher than the others. 

The goblin’s beady eyes stared at Connor, scrutinizing him. Connor tried to swallow the lump of nervousness that had suddenly formed in his throat. 

“Mr. Black is here to make a withdrawal,” Mr. Weasley spoke clearly to the goblin before he looked over at Connor. 

Connor, still frozen in fear didn’t notice Mr. Weasley mouthing key down at him. It was until the goblin’s rough voice reached his ears, did Connor unfreeze. 

“Does Mr. Black have a key?” the goblin asked harshly, looking down at Connor as if he would believe this boy had a key for the bank. 

Connor reached into the pocket of his green jacket. The key was still secure in the place he had hidden it. He stood on his tippy toes to place the key on the marble counter before the goblin. The goblin examined the key as if to make sure it was real. After what felt like minutes, the goblin spoke again. 

“Follow me.”

As Mr. Weasley had asked him to he stayed close as they followed the goblin through a gate then down a long passageway lit with torches. It was what was at the end of it that made the nervousness return to Connor’s stomach. Before them was a cart on a set of tracks. Connor had heard of rollercoasters from the muggle books that Mr. Weasley gave him but he never thought he would have to experience one. 

Griphook and Mr. Weasley climbed into the cart before Connor slowly climbed in too. He gripped the cart as it jerked forward and speed down the track. Connor closed his eyes and tried his best to keep back the nausea that overwhelmed him. When the cart came to a screeching halt, Connor brought his hand up to his mouth to keep his breakfast from coming back up. 

Griphook jumped out of the cart first and moved towards a vault numbered 692. Connor remained behind Mr. Weasley once he exited the cart. Griphook placed the key into the door and slowly a warm yellowish glow hit Connor’s face. Inside the vault was a fair bit of coin he wasn’t sure how his mother had made so much. 

Even though she had came from a pure-blood family, they had disowned her and hadn’t left her any inheritance. He hadn’t thought his mother had that much money but Molly had told him once that his mother had been an exceptional healer when she worked at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. She had been talented for her age. 

The goblin that had accompanied them to the vault handed Connor a small leather drawstring pouch before he let Connor collect as much coins he needed for supplies. When he was satisfied that he had enough, they returned to the cart.  The second ride back to surface wasn’t as bad. When they were finally out of the bank Mr. Weasley simply smiled at Connor. His first stop would be Ollivander’s Wand Shop. Connor, again felt the feeling of being watched when he stepped into the dusty shop. Mr. Weasley kept a close eye on the boy but he let him explore freely. 

A sneeze left his body before he could cover his face. It seemed to catch the attention of an older man in the back. He seemed to look at Connor as if he was trying to place him and a smile hit formed on his face when it came to him. 

“You are certainly your father’s son but you have your mother’s eyes,” Ollivander spoke as he smiled down kindly at Connor. 

“You knew my father?” Connor asked. No one ever talked to him about his father and it often made him frustrated. 

“I sure do,” Ollivander replied and Connor wondered why he had use his father in the present tense. “10 ¼ inches, Cypress with unicorn hair,” he added, looking around at the boxes in his shop. 

Connor heard Mr. Weasley cough behind him and Ollivander entire demeanor seemed the change. He looked down at Connor before he spoke. 

“We shouldn’t speak of such things when you came in here to get your first wand,” Ollivander said as he turned and reached behind him. “Shall I pick you a wand and you give it a wave?” he added as he turned back around with a box in his hand. 

Ollivander opened the box and gently took the wand from the box. He handed it to Connor, who admired the dark wood of the wand. Nervously, Connor raised his arm and gave the wand a wave. Boxes flew off a nearby shelf, almost hitting Ollivander in the head. 

“No,” Ollivander simply replied as he reached for another box. “Maybe this one will do,” he added as he handed Connor a second wand. 

Connor slowly took ahold of the new wand. It was a lighter colored wand the the first and as his fingers circled around the hilt of the wand, he felt power surge through his body. He knew instantly that this was his wand but he still gave the wand a wave. Red and green sparks erupted from the wand and Connor could hear Mr. Weasley laugh from behind him. 

“Of course it’s Cypress,” Mr. Weasley chuckled as Connor looked back at him. 

Connor didn’t even have to hear Ollivander tell him what kind of wand it was. It was clearly a 10 ¼ Cypress wand with an unicorn hair. His wand was just like his father. It was just another thing he had in common with a man he will never know or learn anything about. Ollivander put the wand back in the box once Connor handed it back to him. Connor paid him the seven galleons for the wand then Mr. Weasley and him left the shop. 

“Mr. Weasley, did you know my father?” Connor asked innocently as they went back to the clothing shop they had been in before. Molly was still having Ron’s measurements done though some of the robes would have to be hand me downs. 

“Yes, Connor, I knew your father,” Mr. Weasley answered him honestly. “He was a brilliant and kind man, but you must understand he’s a troubled man,” he added, not realizing his slip up. 

Connor knew some things about his father and one those things was he still alive. When it was Connor’s turn to get measured for uniforms and robes, the thought that his father was still alive nagged at him. If the Weasleys had known his father, why hadn’t they ever told Connor about him? Why was he so troubled he couldn’t be with his only child?

A prick at Connor’s side brought him out his thoughts. The kind old woman looked up at him with a sorry face as he jerked slightly. He looked down at her and smiled to reassure her that he was fine. It took her several more minutes to get his measurements and he was glad when she done because he disappeared out of the shop and back into the alley. He wanted to be by himself for a moment. He browsed the shop windows. He saw an ice cream parlour, a shop that sold nothing but Quidditch stuff and parchment and quills. 

Connor popped into Scribblus Writing Implements and bought all the ink, parchment and quills he thought he might need for school. His wand that settled on top of his school supplies as his next stop was Flourish and Blotts, a bookstore where he could get his textbooks. He loved the smell that hit him instantly; the smell of leather bound books. He was in his element. 

Connor wondered if the Weasleys had even noticed if he disappeared. He continued to get the supplies he needed from the different shops when he came to one that made him stop dead in his tracks. Owls, rats and other animals were in cages. Something small with pure white fur caught his attention. 

A pure white kitten sat by itself in a large box that could have once held many kittens. What took his breath away was the red eyes that looked at him with sadness, It was an albino. That was the reason no one wanted this lonely little kitten. His siblings must have already been chosen by others. He slowly picked up the white kitten and immediately it began to purr then cuddle against his chest. 

“I think this little one may already like you,” replied a man from behind Connor.  “He is quite beautiful,” the man added. 

Connor looked up at the man in surprise. He seemed familiar but he could not place where he had met or seen the man before. He looked to be in his early thirties with scars across his face and greying light brown hair. The small kitten had settled into a sleeping position against Connor’s chest. He knew cats were allowed from the list Hogwarts had included with his acceptance letter. 

Connor smiled at the man who seemed to look at him with guilt but it was gone from his eyes as quickly as it had appeared. The man was strange but not in bad way. His tweed jacket had worn holes here and there and his sky blue button up shirt had become faded from one too many washes. His own clothes were hand me downs from either Ron or the twins. He had few wizardry band shirts from Charlie but they had bonded over music. 

“Are you happy?” the man asked solemnly and out of the blue. 

It was weird question to ask a stranger but like the Potters twins, they weren’t the only one with a famous background. People didn’t come up to him much but they did sometimes have people telling him how his mother saved their lives. But was he happy? He had never really thought about. Yes, he missed his parents deeply but the Weasleys keep him feed, clothed him, put a roof over his head, and treated and loved him like he was one of their own. 

He had bonded with each one of them over something expect Percy. With Bill it had been maths, something else he imagined he got from his father or maybe even both of his parents. Charlie, it had been wizardry bands. The twins, it was doing pranks on the others. Often their targets were Ron or Charlie but sometimes Ron would join in if it was pranks were on Percy. With Ron, it had been Quidditch. Ginny, it had been just sitting in the garden at night, listening to life going on around the Burrow. 

“I regret not getting to know my parents that well but yes, I am happy,” Connor answered truthfully. 

This seemed to give the man a little bit of happiness though his eyes showed sadness. Connor picked a cage to put the small white kitten in then walked into the shop. Ahead of him, a young girl with brown hair was standing next to a tall guy Connor knew as Hagrid. He often visited the Weasleys for official business from Dumbledore. She placed a small black kitten on the counter. When he heard how much the tiny kitten was, his heart dropped. He didn’t have enough to get the albino kitten yet. 

“Let me buy the kitten for you?” the man replied, causing Connor to look over at him. He didn’t even know this man and he was willing to buy a kitten for him. This man was a stranger. 

“I don’t think that would alright,” Connor retorted but the man took the cage from him anyways. “I don’t even know your name,” he added. 

“You can call me Romulus,” the man replied as Hagrid and the two kids that were with him left the store. 

Connor couldn’t believe he was letting a stranger by him a kitten but something about the man gave him a sense of safeness. While Romulus paid for the kitten, Mr. Weasley came inside the shop, out of breath. He looked worried but when his eyes fell on Romulus, his face changed drastically, as if he was seeing a ghost. 

“I have a perfect name for this unique little guy,” Romulus replied as he handed Connor the cage once he was done paying. “Ghost,” he added as the kitten meowed as if response to the name. 

“Ghost,” Connor cooed as he brought the cage eye level so he could see his special new kitten. “Do you like that name?” he asked and the kitten meowed again before he began purring loudly.

Connor was going to thank Romulus but as he looked from Ghost, he had disappeared from the shop. Mr. Weasley walked over to him and put his arm around Connor. 

“Let’s get back to the others,” Mr. Weasley said as Connor and him moved out of the shop. “I told you to keep close. We were worried about you,” he added. 

“I’m sorry, I will never do it again,” Connor said but his thoughts were on the man that bought him Ghost. 

Connor wondered why being around the man made him feel safe and why Mr. Weasley hadn’t stopped the man from buying him the kitten but he had other things to worry about. His father was still alive and he had to figure out who the man was. He needed to know why he didn’t raise him? Was there something wrong with him but then he remembered Mr. Weasleys comment about him being troubled. Had his mother’s death hit him hard or was it something else, something deeper?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcomed. This is the the second story in my Blood and Roses series. The series centers around Remus Lupin and Ophelia Black, and their offspring. His kitten's coloring and name was initial. Shout to Game of Thrones.


	4. Year 1: The Road to Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orphaned twice by dead parents he doesn’t remember and guardians who he was just beginning to make bonds with, Connor is sent to live with another magical family in the Order. Ten years later when the nightmares about a fire continue to get worse, he receives his letter for Hogwarts. But the nightmares aren’t the only thing that burdens this young man - he feels something inside him trying to crawl its way out.

**Year 1: The Road to Hogwarts**

* * *

The fire inched closer and closer to him as the door suddenly bursted off it's hinges and the man from where he had gotten Ghost, entered the decaying house. Connor looked from the man to his mother who was nodding her head yes at him as if to tell him to go with the man. Romulus took a hold of him and carried Connor as if he was weightless.

What scared him was the shadow figure next to his mother was beginning to have features. He could make out black hair but everything else was still invisible to him. The man was talking to him and with a loud pop and swirl of magic, Romulus and him were gone. Before them now stood a cottage with a picket fence and slightly overgrown foliage. A man with brown hair and a woman with brilliant fiery hair like Ginny’s appeared. Their faces were filled with worry and concern. It was when they embraced Romulus and him, he awakened.

Connor’s eyes fluttered open quickly. It was the first time he had dreamed of those two people. It was as if he was remembering them. He felt a sense of kinship and love when he saw the couple. He wasn’t sure if the memory was his own but he knew the last part of his nightmare was not one but a memory.

A quick sadness fell over him when he looked over at the calendar on the wall of Ron and his room. It was the 29th of August, the anniversary of his mother’s death. Today was going to be a long and hard day.

Connor slowly got dressed that morning. He wore worn blue jeans, brown boots, a white Henley, a red and blue plaid shirt and his worn green jacket. He knew Mr. Weasley was taking him to visit his mother’s gravestone but what surprised him was Ginny was dressed and eating breakfast with her father while the others seemed to be still asleep.

“Ginny” Connor acknowledged when he sat down to eat his own breakfast of sausages, beans, toast and eggs. The good old English breakfast.  

“Connor,” Ginny replied in the same voice he had. “I’m joining dad and you today. I thought you could use the company even though I know you like to be alone,” she added, taking a bite of her eggs.

Connor wanted to protest and tell her he didn’t need the company but the look of conviction in her eyes told him there was no way to stop her from joining them. Once they had finished their breakfast, they all stood from the table and left the Burrow from the back door. Once they were enough clearance Ginny took his hand. He felt his heart start to beat faster when she did but his heart sunk a little when he realized it was so they could apparate to where his mother was buried not far the Burrow. It was another wizardry village not far from Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon.

A loud pop filled Connor’s ears and soon they appeared in the field beside an old church and the graveyard. Since he was five, they had been coming here. He slowly stalked away from Mr. Weasley and Ginny to his mother’s grave. His feet moved as if they were on auto-pilot. He knew where his mother’s grave there. There hadn’t been a body to bury but whomever bought the headstone, thought she should have a grave.

The 29th of August had always been a bad day for Connor. Even though he didn’t remember her, Ophelia Lara Black, had been his mother and she had died protecting him. The last few anniversaries of her death (since he could really understand what death meant), he had liked to spend them alone.

September was nearing and Connor could feel it in the wind as it blew harshly across the silent graveyard. It made an eerie whistling noise through the trees, making it sound as if the wind was speaking to him. It was starting to get colder and he pulled his green jacket closer to his body to keep out the chill. He was knelt down next to a gravestone; a shiny black marble marked with the birth and death of his mother.  _ Loving sister, friend and mother _ , the stone read. He wondered who had paid for gravestone.

Mr. Weasley had been the one to bring him to the graveyard in the town he had been born in. Not far away from, sat a patch of land with nothing left but bricks that was once a home. Ginny had came along with her father and him. Even though he had trying his best to avoid her, it didn’t stop her from finding him. He still didn’t know how he felt about the whole situation. Ron was like his best friend and brother, he didn’t want to lose him. But when Ginny looked at him with those fierce hazel eyes, it did something to him and he liked it when he knew he shouldn’t.

Connor felt a hand on his shoulder and Ginny kneeled beside him. Connor hadn’t noticed that tears rolled down his cheeks. Ginny’s hand came up to his face and her thumb wiped the tear that started to drop from his eye. Connor quickly reached up and took a hold of her wrist. It was then he chose his poison because his hand soon intertwined with hers. The most beautiful smile he had ever seen formed on her young face before she looked at the gravestone. 

“She’s proud of you, Connor,” Ginny reassured as she tightened the grip on his hand. 

“I just wish I remembered at least one little thing of her,” Connor cried softly. “All I have are stories of her; that she was brave to leave behind her family for love, she was a kind person with a healing touch and that died protecting me from Deatheaters,” he added, looking away from Ginny to the gravestone. “I want memories of my mother who loved me enough to die for me,” he finished, tears falling from his eyes. 

Connor felt Ginny take her hand from his before she engulfed him in a hug. Connor let himself sink into her hug, resigning to the fact that he had chosen to explore this crush he had on Ginny. Given that he would be leaving for Hogwarts for almost nine months, he planned to write to her as much as he could. 

“Let’s go home, Connor,” Ginny said as she started to shiver against him. “It’s getting colder,” she added softly. 

Connor nodded his head and they both let each other go before they stood up. Once they were fully standing, Ginny took his hand as they walked back to Mr. Weasley. Mr. Weasley watched them with a curious look but didn’t say anything as Ginny took her father’s hand also. With a resounding pop in the eerily quiet graveyard, they apparated back to the Burrow. 

Connor and Ginny didn’t join Mr. Weasley as he entered the Burrow but instead went to their spot beside the garden. They both sat down on the bench underneath her bedroom window. Connor wrapped his arms around Ginny and pulled close to keep her warm. His heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. 

It was Connor who initiated the kiss this time. Her lips were soft against his. The kiss was innocent as they huddled together for warmth. It was sweet kiss between two young kids new to the feelings they were feeling. When Connor pulled back from the kiss, Ginny’s hazel eyes watched him with such curiosity that he felt himself almost drowning. 

It wasn’t until he felt a fist make contact with his jaw that Connor came out the trance he was. He watched Ginny jump up from the bench before she tackled Ron to the ground. Still dazed from being punched, Connor watched Ginny smack her brother across the face. 

“What’s is wrong with you?” Ginny yelled at her brother, who was trying to block his face from his sister onslaught of slaps. 

“What in Merlin’s beard is going on here?” Molly yelled as she exited from the back door of the Burrow. 

“Ron punched Connor for kissing me,” Ginny exclaimed to her mother, whose face grew in shock at Ginny and him kissing. “It was a sweet and innocent kiss; nothing else happened,” she added as if to reassure her mother’s nerves. 

When he was fully back to his senses, Connor hastily jumped off the bench and grabbed Ginny by the waist then pulled her off Ron even though she was struggling against him. Even when Ron was to his feet, he kept a hold of Ginny. Ron glared at Connor before Molly ushered him into the house. 

Connor let go of Ginny before letting his breath he didn’t know he was holding. Upon his hand slipping from her side, Ginny turned and looked at Connor. A large red spot had already formed on his cheek. This is why he didn’t want to react to the feelings he had been having. He knew Ron would overreact. Ginny started to bring her hand to touch his cheek but he flinched away. 

“This why I didn’t want to react on these stupid feelings,” Connor shouted, frustrated that he couldn’t have his crush on Ginny and not have Ron be mad at him. “I have to pack,” Connor replied in a defeated tone before he turned his back on Ginny then walked through the back door of the Burrow. 

Ron ignored Connor as soon as he entered the room. Connor guessed it was better that why instead of either hitting or arguing with him. He hoped that Ron would wake up in the morning and regret it but he was still doing it by the night before they headed to Hogwarts. Ron seemed to be putting off packing his trunk. Connor was slightly glad that he didn’t have to put up with the feeling of Ron burning a hole in his back when he turned around. 

Connor folded and placed the three plain black work robes, along with the one black winter cloak with silver fastenings with a pair of protective dragon-hide gloves stuffed into its pockets, at the bottom of his trunk for padding. His hand me downs clothes were also added to it before his textbooks went on top. Next to be placed in his trunk was his pewter cauldron, crystal phials, telescope, brass scales, parchment, and quills. He safely put his wand on top of the trunk, along with his toy hippogriff. He would hide it once he got to Hogwarts so no one would know but he wasn’t leaving it here. 

Connor closed his trunk with a heavy sigh then looked over at his bed. Ghost was curled up next to Connor’s pillow fast asleep. They would leave for King's Cross Station in the morning. He had always heard stories from the other boys about going through Platform 9 ¾. He wondered what it would feel like through a portal to a magical part of King’s Cross. He had apparated before with help of Mr. Weasley but it that was like being sucked through a vacuum and spat out the other side. 

A small knock on his bedroom door caused Connor to come out of his trance. He could see Ginny’s fiery hair shining in the moonlight from the window. He stood up from beside his trunk and walked towards the door. He knew she shouldn’t be outside his door but a part of couldn’t control wanting to be with her, beside her. That part gnawed at him when he hurt her feelings after the Ron incident. That part of him also wanted to protect her fiercely, even know he knew full well she could take care of herself. He would never treat her like she couldn’t do something because she was a girl. 

Ginny spun around and looked at him nervously once he opened the door. Ginny’s size and age often made people think she was timid but she was just as fierce as her ginger hair. Connor laughed lightly into Ginny’s hair as he bent down and hugged her. She shrieked in surprise at first but soon her arms wrapped around his waist. 

“I am sorry for the other day,” Connor apologized as he continued to hold on to her.

He would not see her for nine months except for Christmas break. There was a part of him, the same part of him that furiously wanted to protect her, was afraid she would forget him while he was gone. He had been orphaned by his mother, who died to protect him. Not wanted by a father who he knew nothing about except that he was presumably alive . Then he finally lost his godparents to a manic. He was afraid of being forgotten once more.

"It’s alright,” Ginny whispered against his ear. “I understand,” she added after a few seconds.

A part called to him to never let her go but he left for Hogwarts in the morning. She would join them next year. He held onto her for a couple of minutes before they both knew Ron would be heading up to the room to get ready for bed. Connor leaned down and kissed her softly on the cheek before she hastily made her way from the room. Connor made sure to have showered, dressed in his pajamas and in bed before Ron came stumbling clumsy into the dark room. Connor’s cheek was finally beginning to heal after a bruise formed there. He rubbed his jaw as he felt the glare of Ron’s stare on him. Sleep soon started to take a hold of him as he listened to Ron hurriedly pack his trunk.

* * *

The next morning, Connor awoke to Molly’s booming voice through the house. It was the day he had been waiting for since he was little; September 1st. Ron gave him the cold shoulder once again that morning and truth be told Connor was beginning not that care anymore. Ron could be a royal arse at times but he was taking it far. It was just starting to annoy him honestly.   

Connor dragged his trunk behind him as he went down the spiral staircase of the Burrow. When he got to the third floor, Ginny greeted him with a soft smile. She was dressed in clothes and not her pajamas. Her hand found his on the handle of the trunk.

“Are you nervous?” Ginny asked him as she helped him pull his trunk.

“Of course,” Connor laughed nervously. “Mostly about what house I will get sorted in,” he added when they came to the bottom of the stairs.

Connor knew his mother had been sorted into Slytherin, like most of the Black family did. His uncle Sirius had been the one to first challenge his family and be in Gryffindor, or so he was told. He had heard stories of his uncle’s years at Hogwarts because three of his friends were notorious pranksters. His mother had followed in her brother’s rebellion against their family after Sirius “runaway” and moved in with his friend James Potter.

Connor remembered the young man with bright blues eyes and wild untameable hair from his dream. His glasses pushed down on his nose as he looked at Connor with the look of concern on his face would forever be in his mind. He was sure now that it was his memory.

The rest of the boys were already downstairs when Ginny and him finally made it to the living room. Molly would be taking them to King’s Cross Station and apparently Ginny had begged her mother to let her come along this year.

By half past ten, they had arrived near King’s Cross Station via portkey. Connor held Ginny’s hand despite Ron’s glares. Ahead of them was Percy, Fred and George, while Molly and Ron followed behind.

“ It's the same year after year. Always packed with Muggles, of course,” Molly exclaimed as walked ahead of Ginny and Connor then pulling them through the dense crowd.

A boy with dark hair and glasses catches Connor’s eyes. A girl with slightly lighter hair with the same colored eyes is standing next to him, whispering something to him that Connor couldn’t quite hear over the sound of the crowd around him. The boy said something to the girl and they start to follow the Weasleys and him.

Ginny clenched Connor’s hand tighter when they come to stop at Platform Nine. She suddenly tugged vigorously at his jacket with her free hand. Connor watched Ginny’s eyes grow wide as she sees the boy following them. He felt his heart sink a little as she looked at the boy with a lightning shaped scar on his forehead like she looked at him.

“Don’t you know who he is?” Ginny asked excitedly as she looked from the boy to Connor.

Connor shook his head no. He didn’t really recognized who he was but he was obviously someone famous.

“That’s the-Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter and his twin sister, Lelia,” Ginny replied, looking at Connor with a look of surprise when he didn’t realize who he was. “Their parents were killed by Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and they survived the killing curse,” she added before looking back at him.

As he looked at them closer, they heavily resembled the couple that appeared in his dream a few nights ago. Harry was almost a carbon copy of the man but with the ginger woman’s eyes. Lelia resembled the woman in her features but she had the coloring of the man but her eyes were the woman’s.

Whomever the man was in dreams had taken him to Harry and Leila's parents the night of his mother’s death, that much he deduced from his dream. Had he been there night the Potter’s were killed? Was there three babies inside that house that night and why wouldn’t have Dumbledore or the Weasleys have told him anything about it? Why was his past so much a secret?

Ginny’s slight squeeze of his hand brought him out his trance. Her eyes were suddenly sad and Molly was looking at him sadness in her eyes too.

“It’s your turn to go through, sweetheart,” Molly said as she pointed towards the brick wall near her.

Connor gave a small sigh and moved to stand in front of Ginny. Tears were falling from the young girl’s eyes as she looked up at him. He lowered his head slightly before placing an innocent soft kiss on her lips. He could hear Ron hiss in anger the background but he didn’t care. He wouldn’t see Ginny for nine months and he didn’t want her to forget him. Harry was suddenly on his mind again and he had a feeling he might have some competition in the future. Small arms suddenly wrapped his waist once he pulled away from the kiss.

“I will see at Christmas, I promise,” he whispered as he gave her another soft kiss but this time on the top of her head.

Molly unwrapped her daughter’s tight grip on her adoptive son’s waist. As Connor took his trolley, Ghost meowed at him from his cage on top of his trunk. He gave Ginny one last look when Molly spoke.

“It’s best you take a running start if you are nervous, dears,” Molly instructed to the all the first years: Connor, Ron, Harry and Leila.

Connor closed his eyes and did as Molly instructed. Afraid he make contact with the wall, Connor squeezed his closed eyes  shut tighter. When he didn’t make contact with the wall, he opened his eyes. Before him, the Hogwarts Express blew it’s warning signal that they had ten minutes to get on the train. The others soon followed after him, including Molly and Ginny. She was helping the Potter twins, Connor and Ron to get someone get their trunks and pets on the train.

Fred and George reappeared and pulled four trunks onto the train. Connor turned and waved at Ginny, who still had tears in her eyes but she smiled sadly at nonetheless. Connor followed the ginger twins to a free compartment. He joined Ron, who didn’t look to happy about it but he couldn’t care less. He was on his way to Hogwarts. Harry sat next to Ron when Connor took his seat next to Leila. She seemed to be angry at her brother.

Connor didn’t know what it was like to have blood siblings. Sure, the Weasley children treated him like he was their brothers but he always wondered what it would be like now if his mother had lived and his father hadn’t left her? Would he have a younger brother or sister? The only real family Connor had left was in Azkaban for murdering or gettings his friends murdered.

For the first the time in days, Ron wasn’t paying Connor any mind. Instead he was talking to Harry. Leila interrupted them before he she took her bag and left the compartment. He had a feeling that this was going to be a long ride to Hogwarts. It wasn’t until Harry spoke to him, that Connor lifted his head.

“What’s your name?” Harry asked, looking at Connor with curiosity.

“Connor Black,” Connor replied as he stuck his hand out for Harry to shake. Harry shook his hand before Ron spoke.

“His mother died in a fire when he was a baby,” Ron explained, giving Connor a small smile. Connor grimaced but was slightly relieved Ron was being civil with him though. “My family took him in after his godparents were killed by Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,” he added.

“Who were your godparents?” Harry asked suddenly.

“For what I deduced, it was your parents,” Connor replied shyly.

A bewildered look came upon Harry’s face as he stared at Connor. While Connor didn’t have memories expect being taken to the Potter’s, a part of him thought the more he got to know Harry that his memories could come back. He was slightly annoyed by the fact that Ron had spilled Connor’s past to a person they barely knew. However, the three of them had taken to each quickly. As they continued to talk, an older lady opened their compartment door and smiled at the three boys warmly.

“Anything from the trolley, dears?” the woman asked.

Connor’s mouth salivated at all the chocolate items on the cart. Ron didn’t have money and showed the kind old lady his sandwich.

“We’ll take the lot,” Harry replied, showing the leather pouch that Connor had safely in his green jacket pocket.

Connor paid for his own chocolate items, eating some and hoarding the rest for later. Connor watched as Harry and Ron talked about the cards they had gotten in their chocolate frogs. To his surprise, his mother looked back at him. She smiled sweetly at the camera. Behind her was a medical ward in St. Mungo's. What caught his eyes was her hand rested on the swelling of her stomach. Molly had downplayed just as famous his mother was for her healing.

Connor turned the card around to see a brief biography about his mother.  _ Ophelia Lara Black was born May 20th, 1961 to Orion and Walburga Black. Her brothers are Sirius Black and Regulus Black. She graduated from Hogwarts with high scores. She was a healer in St. Mungo's Intensive Care and a midwife for the Order of the Phoenix until her death in 1981. _

Connor sadly thumbed the moving image of his mother before he safely pocketed the card in his messanger bag. Both Harry and Ron asked whom he had but he lied, saying he had Dumbledore. Apparently he was common because Harry had one of him too. It was the only picture he had of his mother. All pictures of them together had been destroyed in the fire.

Leila re-entered their compartment with an even more annoyed look than when she left. Ghost hissed from beside him when Ron took Scabbers from his cage. Since he had brought Ghost home, every time Scabbers was around he’d hiss and his white fur would stand on end. Leila seemed to taken back by the rat and Connor watched her shiver slightly.

“This is Scabbers,” Ron said, holding up the rat so that the twins could see him. “Pathetic, isn’t he?”

“A bit,” Harry responded.

“Fred gave me a spell to turn him yellow, wanna see?”

Connor chuckled lightly knowing the spell would do nothing to the rat but the Potter twins didn’t know that nor did Ron. He was sure it was another prank from the twins to make Ron look foolish.

“Yeah,” both Potter twins replied in unison.

Connor simply laid back against his seat and watched as Ron took his wand out then pointed it at Scabbers. As he starts to raise his wand, the compartment door opens to reveal a young girl with bushy brown hair. She is already dressed in her school robes unlike the boys. Leila had already dressed when she had disappeared to look for the loo.

Connor smiled lightly at Leila as she rolled her eyes at the bushy-haired girl. The girl already looks like she’s going to be the annoying type who never allows other students the chance to answer the question from the professor before she does.

“Has anyone seen a toad?” A boy named Neville lost one,” she asked, looking around the compartment before her eyes settled on Ron.

“We already told him it wasn’t here,” Ron replied with an annoyed tone.

Her eyes narrowed at Ron before she noticed he was about to do a spell on the rat sitting calmly on his lap.

“You’re doing magic? Let’s see then.” Her tone was far from encouraging and even though he also knew the spell probably wouldn’t work, he smiled then nodded at Ron to encourage him.

Ron looked from Connor to Harry, who shrugged his shoulders. “Alright,” Ron whispered before he cleared his throat and pointed his wand at the rat. “Sunshine, daisies, butter yellow. Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.” Ron gave his wand a wave but nothing happened. Connor hadn’t expected anything to but he felt bad for Ron because of miss almighty know-it-all.

Connor wanted to do something not very kind when she chuckled at him. Ron and him may have not been talking lately but he had known Ron since they were almost two.

“Are you sure that’s a real spell?” the girl asked in tone that insisted she knew that it wasn’t one.

Leila responded coldly to the girl as mentioned using magic to fix Harry’s glasses. He wasn’t surprised that a muggleborn wouldn’t be afraid to use magic outside of school but he grew up, thankfully, in a magical family. Plus, Mr. Weasley worked at the Ministry of Magic. Connor knew the horrors stories of underage students who performed magic outside of Hogwarts. Despite Leila’s warning, the girl aimed her wand at Harry’s face. His eyes crossed when magic erupted from her wand and fixed the broken nose brim of his glasses.

“Thanks,” Harry exclaimed as he took off his glasses and looked at them in surprise.

“Holy cricket, you’re Harry Potter,” the girl gasped suddenly. “I’ve read about you. Quite fascinating, really. I’m Hermione Granger, by the way,” the girl introduced then looked over Ron, Lelia and Connor. “And you three are?”

“Ron Weasley,” he replied as he stuffed a piece of licorice wand into his mouth.

“Pleasure.” Hermione voice was filled with disgust towards Ron and it made Connor tense up a little. He wouldn’t have someone looking down on Ron. He was about to say something when Hermione spoke again. “And you two?”

Harry explained whom she was first while Connor tried to control the sudden hotness that filled his blood. He didn’t understand why this girl made his so angry but he took deep breathes as Leila and Hermione exchanged words. Connor must of missed the whole exchanged between the three because when his breathing finally slowed Hermione was leaving the compartment and Lelia was glaring at her.

Connor stood up to leave the compartment that felt too small. He grabbed his uniform and headed for the restroom. While he was walking to the restrooms, a girl with long, dark and silky hair caught his attention. She was standing alone outside the toilets as if she was waiting for someone. Connor had to admit to himself that she was cute. Her long hair rested on side of her shoulders and her dark eyes watched the scenery moving past her from the windows. She seemed to sense him watching and her gaze drifted to Connor. She gave him a smile that sent shivers down his spine.

“Who might you be?” the girl asked in a voice that was tempting but light.

“Con...Connor,” he stuttered as the girl continued to look at him.

She reached her small hand out towards him so that he could take. He slowly took it and when his hand touched his, the hotness filled his blood again. It was different then the disgust he felt towards Hermione. This warmth made his cheeks turn red and could make his mind go completely blank. It was then Ginny’s face flashed in mind’s eyes and he quickly pulled his hand back, causing the girl to look at him curiosity.

“I’m Katie Bell,” the girl replied as she smiled at him. “It was nice to meet you, Connor.”

The way she said his name sent feelings through Connor that he shouldn’t be feeling. Even though they were only eleven and not really dating, he had promised he would write back to Ginny. He had a feeling this girl might cause problems for him. Soon another girl with lighter brown hair and blue eyes emerged from the girl’s toilet. Katie waved goodbye to Connor before her and her friend disappeared down the train corridor then to their compartment.

Connor shook his head to clear away the cobwebs that Katie caused in his mind. When he entered the boy's toilet, a boy with blonde and blue eyes was tying his tie in the mirror. He sensed Connor’s presence and turned to look at him. His expression was one of indifference and it didn’t change when Connor heard the familiar voices of Harry and Ron behind him.

Connor, Harry and Ron quickly changed into their uniforms and Connor fixed Ron’s sloppy attempt at tying his tie after the blonde boy had left the toilets. Harry was struggling with his tie to, so Connor helped him tie it too. He had spent many days with Mr. Weasleys learning how to tie a tie properly. Ron was his usual self and put it off until the last minute but Connor felt the need to know how to do it properly.

Connor wasn’t type the raise his hand during Molly teaching them of the muggle world. He had trouble when it came to maths but when it came to English and Science, he excelled well. One book he had received for his birthday was William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Molly had a sad look on her face and told him it was special to his mother. Apparently it was where he had gotten his middle name from.

Once they had their uniforms on and they were making their way back to their compartment, a voice echoed through the train. W _ e will be reaching Hogsmeade Station in five minutes. Please leave all luggage on the train. It will be taken to the school separately. _ The boys cursed themselves for putting off putting on their uniforms and hurried to their compartment.

When they arrived back, Leila was entering their compartment once more. The twins were running down hall, like the codswallop they were. The train came to the screeching halt causing Ghost to meow in a scared tone. Connor reached through the bars of the cage that held Ghost and scratched him under the neck. The tiny white cat purred loudly. He had to leave him in the train. He would see him again once he was sorted into his house.

The four of them stumbled into the now crowding corridor. They squeezed through the students to get outside of the train. Connor wouldn’t believe his eyes as he looked around the train station. It was as if he transported back in time. It was a drastic change to how modern London had looked compared the Scottish Highlands.

Hagrid walked up and down the platform as he called for first years. “Firs’ Years, Firs’ Years over here,” he shouted until most of the first had surrounded him. Some looked up at the tall man with awe and others were making fun of him, including the boy that had an indifference to Connor when he entered the toilets on the train. He was talking with a dark haired boy with a sharp cheekbones and another blonde dude whose uniforms looked too perfect.

Connor followed closely behind Hagrid as he led them down a path that wasn’t lit very well. Once the castle was coming into a closer view, he could see a dark lake separated them from the castle. When they reached the lake, Hagrid called for the students to fill the boats floating on the shore.

“No more’n four to a boat.”

Connor entered the first boat he could see in the darkness. For a few minutes he seemed to be the only one in the boat until Katie and her friend joined him in the boat. An Asian girl with the same long dark silky hair like Katie joined the boat. The boat was now filled. He would have joined Ron and Harry but he had lost them in the sea of students once they came to the boats.

Connor had never been the one to be afraid of water so he was calm as the boats crossed the lake. However, Katie was clutching the hem of her skirt tightly. He didn’t know why he did it but Connor reached over and took her hand. He squeezed it tightly before trying to give her reassurance.

“I heard these boats are spelled to be able to keep someone from drowning,” he reassured as she looked up at him shyly. Her dark eyes glistened with unshed tears but she gave a soft smile.

“Thank you,” Katie whispered softly. 

Connor kept a hold of her hand as they crossed the lake. The castle came into full view and the both gasped at the magnificence and beauty of it. It was huge was the rounded around the bottom of the cliff it sat on to a boat house. They passed through some ivy and into the boat house. He was the first get out of their boat. He helped the three girls out of the boat.

After all the students were off the boats, they followed Hagrid the long ascent of stairs that led to the castle. They seemed to wind around the cliff. Connor felt his lungs burning when they finally made it to the doors that lead into the castle. They passed through them before Hagrid turned around and spoke to them once more.

“Straight up those stairs,” he pointed to a staircase in the corner of the room. “Professor McGonagall should be waitin’ for yeh,” he finished giving the first a smile.

Connor had finally made it to the place he been wanting to come to since he knew he was a wizard. It was also a placed he shared with his parents. Something of their time had to be here and he hoped to find it. They had fell in love here after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is welcomed. This is the the second story in my Blood and Roses series. The series centers around Remus Lupin and Ophelia Black, and their offspring. Leila Potter belongs to my friend, Januarylily.


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